Erling Haaland is a soccer player playing for Manchester City and Norway. He is a Norwegian striker and the son of former Premier League player Alf-Inge Haaland.
Haaland was born in Leeds during his father’s time playing in England, but started playing football in Norway with his hometown club Bryne.
Club career
In 2017, he moved to Norwegian Eliteserien club Molde where excelled in his second season, netting 16 goals in 30 appearances, winning the league’s Breakthrough of the Year award.
He caught the eye of Austrian champions RB Salzburg who signed him in August 2018, with the five-year deal commencing in January 2019. He exploded on to the scene with Salzburg in the 2019-20 season, scoring four hat-tricks within two months of the season starting, including one in the UEFA Champions League against Genk, thrusting him into the spotlight. He would also score against Liverpool and Napoli, netting in his first three appearances in competitions, a feat only achieved by one other teenager, Karim Benzema.
Haaland generated widespread, with Manchester United and Juventus interested but Borussia Dortmund landed him in December 2019 for a reported fee of 20 million euros on a four-and-a-half-year contract. Despite leaving midseason, Haaland won the Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Season for 2019-20.
He continued his rise at Dortmund, winning the Bundesliga Player of the Month in January 2020 along with back-to-back Rookie of the Month awards in January and February 2020. He scored 16 goals in 18 appearances for Dortmund in the last part of the 2019-20 season.
Haaland won the 2020-21 Bundesliga Player of the Season after scoring 27 goals in 28 appearances, followed by 22 in 24 games in 2021-22 although some injuries held him back.
In May 2022, Manchester City confirmed the signing of Haaland for a reported 60 million euros on a five-year contract. He impressed immediately, scoring two hat-tricks within the first month, winning the Premier League Player of the Month for August. He had netted 20 league goals within 14 games which was a new Premier League record, among many firsts he achieved.
Haaland helped City win an historic treble in his maiden season, clinching the UEFA Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup titles, with the Norwegian scoring 52 goals in 53 games in all competitions. Haaland scored a Premier League record 36 goals in his debut campaign, winning the league’s Player of the Season, Young Player of the Season and Golden Boot awards. He finished runner-up in the 2022-23 Ballon d’Or voting to Lionel Messi.
International career
Haaland debuted for Norway in 2019. He played for Norway at the 2019 U20 World Cup where he scored a record nine goals in a 12-0 win over Honduras.
Haaland has scored at almost a goal-per-game at international level, making almost 30 appearances but is yet to lead Norway to any major tournaments.
